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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Now that I'm coming down from the hype of Stampin' Up! Convention, I have a bit of catching up to do with birthday cards. I've already apologised to my much-loved brother for not getting his card in the mail before going to Sydney ... he knows I love him!

Here is the card I made for my brother, Dean. Whipped out my trusty Lovely As A Tree stamp set, that I think is great for men's cards. Other items I love to use on masculine cards are the Sanded background stamp and my Colour Spritzer tool. These got a work-out, big-time, along with a sponge dauber!

Stamps: Sanded, Inspired by Nature, Lovely As A Tree, On Your Birthday

Phew - that was close! In my post-Convention haze, I realised it was Wednesday, but had momentarily forgotten that midnight tonight is the cut-off for challenge entries over at Just Add Ink! Just went in to my craft room, and whipped up a card using the last of my watercoloured images from last month's stamp group - you know, the Asian Artistry series that has been getting a real work-out on my blog?!

Hubby has deemed my card "bland", so I have a feeling some of you, dear blog readers, will like it! Historically, any cards Andrew doesn't like have proven to be quite the opposite in 'female eyes'. Here it is, in its full photographed-at-night time glory:

... and here's a close-up of the tag, to show I stamped off the rose image a couple of times, then stamped it on a Very Vanilla tag. The little flowers were punched from Mellow Moss card that had been stamped in En Francais. Of course I sponged around all the edges!

Hmm, now that I see the close-up, I can see a brad prong sticking out (bugs me, but I'm not re-doing it!). If I hadn't have mentioned it, would you have noticed??

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Sounds very final, doesn't it??! I took rather a lot of photos at Convention in Sydney over the weekend, but I won't overwhelm you with them all. Thank you to my lovely friends who've also provided me with even MORE photos to sort through!

I just had to share with you a picture of Bonnie Thurber, one of the Home Office staff from Utah who came over to keep us in fits of laughter. Oh, I mean, train us! Bonnie is hilarious, and gorgeous, and I so didn't want her to return to the States.

Also, I want to share with you a photo of Pam Morgan, also one of the fantastic US staff members who spent the weekend with us. Pam demonstrated an add-on benefit of the Big Shot, incorporating it in her exercise routine.

To all my newsletter customers: this might help sway your decision, to take me up on my special offer on the Big Shot for May! LOL.

All in all, we had a great time at Convention. I have to say, I am still tired, 3 days down the track!

At Convention, a very exciting announcement was made for those of us looking to recruit new team members.

From now until the end of July, the Stampin' Up! Starter Kit is available for an amazing A$259 only!

Normally it is $324, which is already a massive saving on the products it contains (over $560 worth of stamping product and business supplies). So, if you'd like to take advantage of a 50% (retail value) saving, now is the time! You can choose which stamps, inkpads and cardstock you want in your Starter Kit, and there is no postage or handling charge on the kit. How's that for a bargain?

I am looking for all kinds of demonstrators to join my team. You may be a mad-keen stamper or scrapbooker who *needs* to buy lots of goodies, and would dearly love 20% discount off all of Stampin' Up!'s gorgeous products, every day. Or, you may be looking to develop your own business from home, that has the flexibility to work in with your family/other commitments.

Whichever category you fit into, I encourage you to contact me if you'd like to join my team. We can offer great friendship and support, and as a demonstrator you have several opportunities throughout the year to earn FREE STAMPS!! I'd be happy to send out an obligation-free information pack to you,if this sounds like it'd be a good fit in your life. Being at Convention cemented for me that I've made a GREAT decision to sign up with Stampin' Up!

For all the details, click on the following link to take a look at the Starter Kit Special flyer:

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

If you're visiting my blog for the first time in a little while, you might like to read my post from earlier today first.

I've taken a breather, had some lunch and taken care of some washing and dishes, so I thought I'd return to my recount of this past weekend's Convention in Sydney!

On the last night of Convention, we enjoyed an Awards and Recognition dinner and function. We were made to feel very special, entering the venue via a red carpet, all the while being photographed by 'paparazzi', and being welcomed by cheering Stampin' Up! staff members. We had a lot of laughs.

As you probably already know, if you've checked in here before when I've taken part in blog hops, I belong to the Art With Heart team of demonstrators; our upline is Claire Daly. Well, Claire was awarded the #1 Demonstrator of the Year, for Australia - an amazing achievement. Here are a couple of photos of Claire up on stage:

Next up is Sue Madex, who placed #15 Demonstrator in Australia. We were so excited that she'd made it into "the top 25", and even more excited when we learnt just how well Sue had done (there are over 2000 demonstrators in Australia).

Sue's the gorgeous, smiley one in the mod dress (between Claire, and Jayne Mercer, who deservedly won the "Heart of Stampin' Up!" award).

Another of our team members, Miriam Thomas, won the "Rising Star" award, based on her own personal sales and recruiting, and promotions within her team.

Two more of our 'girls', Ange Dickins and Kathryn Ruddick, walked the stage to receive personal sales awards - but I was not quick enough with my camera. It was an exciting night for us all.

I have a few other, 'random', photos from Convention that I will share in yet another post, but for now I must sign off and devote some time to my family. I missed my boys while I was away, and I think now that I'm home (and it is nearing school pick-up time), I need to be with them for a bit. I'll catch you a bit later on!

Monday, May 24, 2010

I hope that the last few posts I scheduled kept you happy while I was away, living it up in Sydney! I'm now home, after a wonderful few days away at my very first Stampin' Up! Convention. Boy, am I tired!! It was fantastic to meet in person my stamping friends who I've 'met' and conversed with online, and it reinforced for me what a fantastic group of women are involved with Stampin' Up! in Australia. I have lots and lots of photos from the weekend, and I plan to share quite a few with you, so you might want to take this opportunity to make a cuppa and get comfy!

In Sydney, I shared an apartment with my friends (and team-mates) Judy and Nikki. I think we had the pick of the accommodation, given that most of our team (and many other Convention attendees) stayed in a different block of apartments, that were evacuated twice during the first night's stay! There were some tired girls around the traps on the first day of Convention.

I made a card for my 'roomies', since it was rather exciting for us to be away together, for such a major girls' weekend. I forgot to photograph one of them before putting it in an envelope, but here is the other (similar, but different colour) card so you can see what they were like:

"Swapping" on the first day of Convention was sheer madness! The idea is to make multiple copies of your own design of card front, to swap with other demonstrators/attendees, so we can all share ideas. There were almost 500 women at Convention, crowded into part of the Darling Harbour Convention Centre. It was rather frantic to begin with ... thankfully, the excitement level did ease a little! This is what my swap looked like (followed by the 'ingredients' used to make it):

Okay, now on to the apartment we stayed in. It was very spacious and comfortable .. thought I'd show you a few photos of the inside, and the view we had over Darling Harbour. Here's the dining area:

On the bench between the dining space, and the kitchen, we set up our own little snack bar:

.... and here's a shot of the lounge area:

From our apartment, this is what we saw:

and from the other side:

Really lovely accommodation, which helped to make the whole Convention experience very special.

I am very much a "details" person, so really appreciated all the lovely little touches provided by Stampin' Up! at Convention. A couple that tickled my fancy were these gerberas at the registration desk:

and the delicious, and varied, lunch packs we received:

I was teased mercilessly about photographing the lunch, but, hey, if I don't have to prepare it, I appreciate it all the more! The catering was fantastic. (Although I didn't get to enjoy the chocolatey-orange goodness of that cupcake, as it was whisked away when I made the mistake of leaving my chair for a few minutes!)

As well as listening to engaging and entertaining speakers, and getting to do some hands-on creating, we got the opportunity to shop in Stampin' Up!'s own "Memento Mall". Here's Judy indulging in some retail therapy:

I have numerous photos of my special stamping friends to share with you, so I hope you're not flagging yet!! I will break up my blog posts, and share a separate post about the recognition of our high-achieving team members. I want this post to focus on the friendship, fun and frivolity of our Sydney experience.

Here I am (in all my un-photogenic glory, hot and bothered), with some of my team-mates:

I am at the rear, with Judy and Nikki. In the front are Miriam andClaire.

How gorgeous are these girls???

Left to right is Carolina, Jess (who needs to start a blog!!),Ange, and the adorable Bec. Such fun.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Before going off to Stampin' Up! Convention in Sydney, I made this card so I'd be able to share something new in my absence. I think most of my regular blog visitors will probably be in Sydney too, but hopefully one or two of you are enjoying the posts I scheduled for the days I'm away!

I really enjoyed making this card, using several products from the gorgeous Autumn-Winter Mini catalogue. My Big Shot got a good work-out, cutting a couple of Top Note dies, and a label, and embossing the 'dotty' panel. Great fun! I've also used a few punches - the XL Two-Step Bird Punch provided the little branches, the Medium Jewelry Tag punch created the 3 tiny tags attached with a brad, and the Wide Oval punch (from the main Idea Book & Catalogue) was the perfect 'landing pad' for my butterfly. The Wide Oval fits perfectly inside the Sizzlits label, doesn't it? Love that look.

I look forward to sharing with you soon some photos of my Stampin' Up! Convention experience ... just have to upload, and sort through my piccies. I hope that you've had some excitement in your life this week too!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

You know I'd mentioned that at my last stamp group I had watercoloured a few images from the new "Asian Artistry" stamp set from the Autumn-Winter Mini catalogue? Well, I'm not through with showing you my card series yet! I've made a really simple card, using the bird image that I had watercoloured in Tempting Turquoise. This card was made using a sketch from my Stampin' Up! team's online forum; actually, the same sketch that spawned my Cameo Coral and Rose Red watercoloured rose card. Just goes to show what different cards can result from one sketch! I like this card better; the clean lines, and bold colour ... much more to my liking!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Being the English language pedant that I am, I was tempted to call this post Bella Bleu Beautiful Butterfly, just for the alliteration, but I spared you all.

With all the nervous energy I built up before going to Convention, I got more cards made than I normally would; see how often I can post on my blog when I really put my mind to it??!!

The other night, while hubby was watching one of his favourite travel and cooking/ travelling chef / cooking traveller shows on Foxtel, I had a play in my craft room. I still had out my Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper that had been feeling unloved, so I used a small panel on this card. I cut a Top Note in the DSP, then trimmed it down and adhered it to the front of a Kraft Top Note. I had a leftover sparkly butterfly on my desk, from when I'd experimented with Heat and Stick Powder, and Crystal Effects, so I used that too. It feels great to actually USE some of the bits and pieces that I have amassed on my desk!

(Now, if only hubby USED some of the knowledge he gains from the tv shows, and did some cooking ....)

I really love this card, and think I'll make a few more, when I get back from Convention. Mind you, my mind may by then be filled with all sorts of new ideas, and I'll completely forget what I planned to do .... will fill you in, in a few days, friends! Thanks for stopping by!

Intriguing title? In the new Autumn-Winter Mini catalogue, Stampin' Up! is offering some exclusive Sizzix dies to use in the Big Shot. As well as the fabulous smaller dies, there are some "Movers and Shapers" dies, which actually cut out an entire card, and at the same time cut and perforate a window design in the card. I've used the Curly Label Movers and Shapers die, which co-ordinates perfectly with the Curly Label Punch - love that!

Here is my card (an 'overhead' shot):

The card, and the little Curly Label Window, were cut out in one step - way too cool! Here's another view:

I mentioned that the die co-ordinates perfectly with the Curly Label punch. The small panel of kraft card that was left after cutting the window, fit perfectly as a mat behind the white punchie created with the Curly Label punch. Just lovely, don't you think?

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Today I'd like to share with you a card I made using a few of my favourite things - the Top Note die, the colour green, and the new Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up!

My newsletter subscribers have already seen this card, but I thought it was worthwhile posting it on my blog, because I've taken a decent photo of it (in my newsletter it looked very grey and dull, but in real life it's not). There's a lot to be said for photographing cards in the daytime, isn't there?! Most of my blogging (and composing of newsletters, for that matter) occurs at night, and I'm always a bit impulsive, so I resort to taking photos under artificial light in my craft room. Anyways, enough babbling, and on to my card:

I've been having a play with the Manhattan Flower embossing folder in my Big Shot, and wanted to make another card like this one. Such a simple style of card, but really pretty, don't you think? I can say that humbly, because it wasn't my idea!

I dug out my Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper for this one. LOVE this paper, but I don't use it very often; you know how you keep some things in a special spot because they're too pretty to use? Well, it was time for this paper to get some love. I have been trying to use more blue in my cards lately, because it's not one of my "go to" colours, but I always love how it looks in papercraft.

Firstly, I'll show you my card (and all the 'ingredients'), then I'll tell you some of the techniques I used. Please be impressed that I photographed this during the daytime, so it's nice and clear, ha ha!

I think this is the first time I have ever used my Night of Navy ink and ribbon, and I love it! (Who knew?!) To make the tag, I first stamped the rose from Fifth Avenue Floral on the pre-cut kraft tag; once in Very Vanilla ink, and again in Brocade Blue ink (both times stamped off first, just to give a faint impression). I over-stamped the sentiment, using my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig, in Night of Navy ink, and sponged the edges of the tag with Brocade Blue ink.

The butterfly was stamped in Night of Navy ink on a piece of kraft-coloured Bella Bleu DSP. I then used the Stamp-a-ma-jig, to stamp the butterfly again, over the top, in Versamark ink. Heat & Stick powder was sprinkled over the top, heated until sticky, and Dazzling Diamonds applied. A quick burst of heat with my heat gun 'set' the glitter, so it stays put. It's a day of 'firsts' today, as this was also the first time I've used Heat & Stick powder to apply Dazzling Diamonds - it's so easy! Much neater than using liquid glue, too. My pretty butterfly is raised up on dimensionals, to show it off a bit more!

The little button was cut out using the Buttons #5 Sizzlits die, using Very Vanilla card. I sponged it Brocade Blue (only because I changed my mind - should've just used Brocade Blue cardstock, shouldn't I?!), then sponged the edges in Night of Navy ink. A thin strip of kraft card was threaded through the button holes to finish off.

I really like this card, probably because it has flowers, a butterfly, ribbon and a button - some of my favourite things! I hope it brings a smile to your face too.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

This past weekend we had a lovely, relaxing, weekend at our little cabin (we call it our "sanity saver"). We have a comfortable, low-maintenance holiday home in a caravan park, on the banks of the Goulburn River - such a beautiful part of the world. It is really peaceful.

On Saturday we packed a picnic lunch, and drove to a nearby spot in the Rubicon Valley. I thought I'd share with you a few pictures of my boys. Such a simple family thing to do, but it was really nice to just 'be', and to soak up the autumn sunshine.

We don't really go anywhere without a cricket bat and ball in the car. Here are Jack and Ethan playing nicely (this lasted for about 10 minutes!):

We sat down to a simple picnic lunch, and some reading time ... here's hubby and my eldest:

Ethan was dying to cast a line into the river. He would've happily spent all afternoon fishing, but for the lack of patience of the other family members!

Do you think he looks like he was having fun?

While Ethan expended his energy casting, and reeling in, casting and reeling in, this is all Jack could muster up the energy to do ....

Such a hard life, being a teenager and getting dragged out of bed before midday to join his family on an outing! Once Jack realised I was taking photos of him, he decided to shut himself in the car and 'pump up the tunes'. I took one last photo of him before his father told him to "turn that noise off!!"

We don't take the time often enough to enjoy simple pleasures like this day. It was a highlight of the weekend (well, Jack may beg to differ, but in years to come he might understand!).

It's now only a few days until I fly up to Sydney for Stampin' Up! Convention. I plan to schedule a few blog posts for the time I'm away, so that if you do pop in to visit, there will be something new to look at. I won't be blogging from Convention, but will be sure to take lots of photos so that I can share my experience with you when I get back.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Last week at stamp group (a monthly get-together with stamping friends, mainly to eat chocolate and talk a lot!), I watercoloured a few images from the new Asian Artistry stamp set. Despite remembering to take chocolate, I didn't remember to actually take any inkpads along, so I scribbled with markers on the plastic stamp case, and watercoloured using my aquapainter. I'd used the colours Cameo Coral, Ruby Red and Old Olive, so that was the starting point for this card.

I started off making a very simple card for a challenge on my Stampin' Up! team's online forum, but it evolved into something completely different. I've been known to sponge cards to within an inch of their life .. couldn't not use sponge daubers on this one! The end result is waaaay out of my comfort zone; it's not really my 'style' of card, but I decided I'd share it with you anyway. I'm just enjoying having the time to create, and post on my blog .... hopefully you'll like this card a bit more than I do (and a LOT more than my husband does, LOL).

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Time for another great challenge from the Just Add Ink team. This week it's a call-out to make a papercraft project incorporating the following colours:

I'm pretty sure it's okay to throw a 'neutral' into the mix. No prizes for guessing that I chose to use Kraft!

I love, love, love, the single "All A Flutter" stamp that is in Stampin' Up!'s new Autumn-Winter Mini catalogue, so was determined to use it in my challenge entry. I clear-embossed the butterfly onto Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, and Ruby Red card, by first inking the stamp in Versamark ink, then loading it with my chosen colour and stamping on the same coloured card. A sprinkle of clear embossing powder stuck to each image, thanks to the Versamark (sticky, clear) ink.

I've just re-read what I typed ... does that make sense to you?? I hope so! Just ask if you need clarification (I was described by my teacher, when I was 7, as "verbose", and have proudly carried that tag all my life, LOL).

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Asian Artistry is a brand new Level 2 hostess stamp set, in Stampin' Up!'s Autumn-Winter Mini catalogue. It's a beautiful set, containing a few images that are perfect for watercolouring. Being a hostess set, it can't be bought, but it can be earnt for FREE if you host a qualifying workshop. If you like the sound of this, want to get some friends together for a few fun hours of stamping, and live in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne, email me, and we'll arrange a date for your workshop!

The focal point of my card is the gorgeous bird, perched on bamboo; I've simply stamped the image in Basic Gray ink, and lightly 'painted' over the foliage with my aquapainter (water-colouring brush), to blur the lines a little. I scribbled with a Brilliant Blue marker onto my plastic 'palette' (the clamshell case of the stamps), and picked up the colour with my aquapainter to watercolour the bird. I don't gravitate towards blue very often, but I love the colours in this card. I was thinking it'd make a nice sympathy card; what do you think?

Thursday, May 6, 2010

As promised, I'm back with the second card I made in my Get Well "series" (does two cards constitute a series??!).

My friend Leanne makes the most beautiful cards, but doesn't have a blog to showcase them. So, I can unashamedly copy what she does, and post them on my blog, and pass them off as my own! No, not really ... but I was very inspired by a card Leanne showed me recently. She'd used a cut-out panel of embossed Manhattan Flowers on Whisper White, overlaid on some Kiwi Kiss Designer Series Paper.

My dear friend Kerry let me borrow her "Greenhouse Garden" stamp set, that is not available in Australia. It is such a gorgeous set, and I have been hanging on to it for weeks; I thought I'd better make something with it, before I give it back to Kerry tomorrow!

One type of card that I (thankfully) don't have much need for, but which I'd like to have in my stash 'just in case' is Get Well cards. I have a couple of creations in the pipeline ... I'll share the Greenhouse Garden one with you today, and will post the other tomorrow.

The oranges that I've used in this card are Apricot Appeal (LOVE the softness of that colour), and the much bolder Pumpkin Pie. To soften the solid background card, I have stamped it in Very Vanilla using the Sanded background stamp, then have sponged around the card edges with Very Vanilla ink.

Even though this beautiful stamp set is not in our current Stampin' Up! range, I wanted to share my card with you, because I really like it - hope you do too!